The Stars decided he should have the surgery shortly afterward, even though Roy said he could play with the injury.

"[The Stars] figured a 100-percent Derek Roy would help the team more than playing at 75 percent, getting hurt, coming back and doing that all season. We made the decision on surgery and right now for us, and we are going to move forward," Roy said. "I could have played with it, but I wouldn’t have been 100 percent."

Roy had 44 points in 80 games last season for Buffalo, his lowest points-per-game rate since breaking into the NHL in 2003-04.

He's only 17 but he can see the ice so well and he moves the puck and goes to the open ice all the time, so I just think he's a player that is ready to play in the NHL. I'm really looking forward to coaching someone like this.

— U.S. National Junior Team coach Ron Wilson on Auston Matthews, the projected No. 1 pick of the 2016 NHL Draft